Avoiding reputational damage when commissioning contractors and sub contractors

The supply chain solutions provider, Altius, has outlined ten common pitfalls that can expose businesses to reputational damage across their supply chain, including: health and safety, environmental performance, operational disruption and commercial problems.

Altius stresses that supply chain visibility is key to removing these pitfalls, by having a system of standards and pre-qualification checks in place, particularly when outsourcing to contractors and sub-contractors in high risk areas.

Ten common pitfalls

1.   Do your contractors and sub-contractors have the necessary insurance for working at heights?

2.  Is your contractor’s asbestos awareness training adequate? Have you checked the course content, or has it been approved by organisations such as UKATA or IATP? Is refresher training provided and are all new starters covered?

3. Have you checked that your contractors are competent to work with electricity? Do you know if they are a member of a recognised group such as NICEIC or the ECA?

4. Does your contractor have a sustainable and ethical sourcing policy? 

5.  Is your contractor disposing of waste responsibly? Do they have the up to date licenses?

6.  How financially solvent is your supplier? Do you continuously track their financial health to ensure that they can fulfil their work commitments?

7.   If you are dealing with a large contracting business with multiple divisions, are you certain that their insurance cover applies to the individual business you are dealing with? Can you be certain that insurances are always up to date?

8.  Is professional indemnity insurance set at the right level for the risks your supplier might face?

9. Do your contractors have the records to demonstrate they comply with applicable legislation?

10. Do your contractors check their staff are competent to safely perform the work they are asked to do?

A member of Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP), Altius has developed Exigo compliance software which enables firms to configure their own compliance framework across many parameters, including health and safety, financial and commercial performance and information security.

The cloud-based software integrates with existing enterprise systems to provide an in-built audit trail for full contractor and sub contractor visibility and information retrieval, along with automated report generation and data exportation.

Contact:

Phone: 01332 960320
Email: enquiries@altiusva.com

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